The IJgeul or IJ trench is a man-made excavation on the bottom of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, off the coast of

IJmuiden n IJ (digraph) and that should remain the only places where they are used. > IJmuiden () is a port town in the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland. It is the main town in the municipality of Velsen which lies mainly to the south-ea ...

, which provides access to large vessels with deep

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

s to the port of IJmuiden, and also via the

North Sea Canal The North Sea Canal () is a Dutch ship canal from Amsterdam to the North Sea at IJmuiden, constructed between 1865 and 1876 to enable seafaring vessels to reach the port of Amsterdam. This man-made channel terminates at Amsterdam in the closed- ...

, to the

port of Amsterdam The port of Amsterdam () is an Inland port, inland port, seaport in Amsterdam in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the 14th busiest port in Europe by total cargo tonnage. In 2023, the port of Amsterdam had a cargo throughput of 63 million tons. ...

(just like the

Eurogeul The Eurogeul or Euromaasgeul is a channel dug in the North Sea in conjunction with the Port of Rotterdam. It has a length of 57 km and a depth of 23 meters. Use The Eurogeul is a so-called ''deep water route'' in the '' Traffic Separation Sc ...

for the

port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the List of bus ...

). The name comes from IJ and ''geul'', a Dutch word meaning "the portion of a channel that often has to be dredged." IJgeul-Amsterdam

History

When the IJgeul opened in 1982, the maximum

was at 16.5 meters. In 2006, the Minister of Transport decided to deepen and extend the IJgeul. Public works have dredged the channel to 17.8 meters. In addition, the IJgeul was extended in length from 23 to 43 kilometers.

Circulation

Traffic is strictly regulated; vessels must follow the

leading lights Leading lights, also known as range lights in the United States, are a pair of light beacons used in navigation to indicate a safe passage for vessels entering a shallow or dangerous channel; they may also be used for position fixing. At nigh ...

over the last 23 km, which are formed by the

Hoge vuurtoren van IJmuiden The hoge vuurtoren van IJmuiden ("high lighthouse of IJmuiden") is a round, cast-iron lighthouse in IJmuiden, Netherlands, designed by Quirinus Harder. It was built in 1878 by D.A. Schretlen & Co, a company in Leiden. Together with the Lage vuu ...

and the

Lage vuurtoren van IJmuiden The Lage vuurtoren van IJmuiden ("low lighthouse of IJmuiden") is a round, cast-iron lighthouse in IJmuiden, Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherla ...

. 18 km from the coast, a space was created so that in case of problems, it is possible for vessels to turn back. The Prostar Sailing Directions from 2006 provides detailed approach and restriction information.

Attendance

The average attendance is 90 vessels with a maximum draft per year.

References

{{coord, 52, 27, 36, N, 4, 30, 00, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Canals in North Holland North Sea Port of Amsterdam Canals opened in 1982 Canals in the Netherlands 1982 establishments in the Netherlands

History

Circulation

Attendance

See also

References